


Favours for None

by halocentury



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Denial of Feelings, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Oswald Holds a Grudge, one-sided Gobblepot, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:15:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25539391
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/halocentury/pseuds/halocentury
Summary: It was empty streets and sidewalks around City Hall. A home for one, behind heavily fortified walls.Zsasz comes by to gloat one last time.Oswald doesn't expect him to say goodbye.
Relationships: Oswald Cobblepot/Jim Gordon, Oswald Cobblepot/Victor Zsasz
Comments: 6
Kudos: 37





	Favours for None

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know if you see the non- _Gotham_ reference. ;)

He didn’t move from the spot he stood, staring out the window to the city outside. City Hall was meant to be the hub of all activity, but all that changed when the bridges went down. Now he called it home. Now the streets and sidewalks around it were empty, heavily fortified with his hired guns, those who hadn’t abandoned him. There had been many, who had left at the ends of their shifts, as though on extended leave.

Except now, with the destruction of Haven, they returned, like nothing had ever happened, that they didn’t slink away like the snakes and rats they were. 

He stood, motionless but for his fingers, twitching, needing something to squeeze around. Anything would’ve worked, a knife or a gun, but what he wanted wasn’t tangible. 

He did have a plan to claim justice, and respect for himself, but it slipped out of his fingers. 

Walked away, in the guise of two men, like they always did. 

“Does he ever thank you for what you do for him?”

Clenching his hand into a fist, Oswald twisted around sharply to face Zsasz. At first he lounged against the edge of the bookcase, one portion of the city’s collection of records, before moving closer, away from the shaded alcove that separated the room from the next one. “There is no point in asking how you got in here, but if you think you can just come in here and mock me, it’s pointless,” Oswald pointed out.

“You never did enjoy being undervalued,” Zsasz, the escaped criminal, commented, smirk playing at his lips.

Cheek twitching he faced the window, shoulders squaring off as he lifted his chin. “You were pardoned by the GCPD, so get your gloating done with quickly and leave.”

“That’s my plan.”

“Do it faster then.”

“But I miss our talks.” 

He could hear the mock-pout in Zsasz’s voice, nearly smiled for the old memories it conjured up. He could even see the puppy eyes that should accompany the over-all sad look the man was giving him. “You should’ve considered that sooner.” 

“You should be grateful that I stopped by, to say goodbye.” 

When he looked over his shoulder, the expression that he found was not the one he anticipated. The sombre look was there, but he had dipped his head, an almost cast of wistfulness in his dark eyes. “You can’t,” Oswald whispered, to which Zsasz further tipped his head sideways. “You’re leaving, the city? That’s impossible.” 

“Someone from the outside, they owe me a favour.” 

Surprise turned weighted, dropping solidly in his stomach. It ached, twice over, for reasons he didn’t want to think about, but it surfaced despite his own intentions. 

Why wouldn’t Zsasz leave? Everything was hopeless in Gotham, the city was crumbling day by day. 

Visiting him, just to tell him he was leaving, felt like the last betrayal. That he would never see his face again. 

“They owe me two favours.”

Eyes wide he regarded Zsasz, taking in the open, sincere nature of his face, matching the words, the offer that hung between them. “For me?” 

“For you. Do you really want to continue to be disappointed by Gordon for the rest of your days?” Zsasz asked, taking a step closer. Once it had been so natural for them to ignore each other’s personal space, sliding in and giving each other glances that only they understood, until they could find much needed privacy. In a nook at Falcone’s mansion; later, in his own. 

At first the excuse was for releasing the lingering kinetic energy of another successful hit for Zsasz. 

Soon enough they didn’t need excuses, aside from physical needs and shared release.

This was another promise of release, one that set his pulse racing, even as his shoulders slowly sank.

“I can’t leave Gotham, the city needs me.” Which was true enough, he would do anything for the city, unlike Jim. Jim lived for the city, and his own wants, but they never involved letting him be an equal, for Gotham, for favours taken and never given, or the torch that burned him but never burned Jim.

He leaned into the fingers that reached for his cheek, leather so familiar, warm and buttery soft. Nuzzled when his palm cupped his face entirely, tilting him up for a kiss that stoked the fire in all the ways he craved.

“If you ever change your mind, my people would easily be undone by your cunning,” Zsasz whispered, lips at his ear in an open smile, before teeth loosely caught his earlobe in a wet tug. “Drop by, you can do much better.”

He had yet to look up even after Zsasz left the room.

*

“I know he came here Oswald.”

“Just because he came here, doesn’t mean I know where he was going to,” he countered, days later, same room, but facing off with Jim. This time he hadn’t been at the window, but seated before the Captain came in uninvited. 

He really needed to have a word with his security team. 

“What is he planning on doing next?” Jim questioned, impatience creeping in on the interrogation. 

“Travelling.” That was the basics that he knew at least, though what he would be doing when he arrived safely to his destination away from Gotham, was unknown. Zsasz was a professional, so chances were he would still be in the assassinating business. Maybe an independent player. Or perhaps he knew of another mob family in need. 

“Where to?”

Oswald pursed his lips, a well-known act to both of them, as he hummed in concentration. “He mentioned he was going to California.”

“California is a pretty big state,” Jim pointed out dryly, moving closer. If he had hoped that he might encourage him with a tight grip to his suit, he was sorely mistaken. “Can’t you be a bit more specific?”

“Maybe he wanted to get into acting?”

Jim walked out with a huff, and all his bravado faded away with his smirk.

Undervalued again.

Unwanted.

One day, maybe, he would finally see he didn’t owe Jim anything.


End file.
